by Chris Chase, USA TODAY Sports

by Chris Chase, USA TODAY Sports

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reports the free agent pitcher suffered a ruptured spleen when he slipped and fell while shoveling snow on his driveway in Vermont.

Some are putting this in the "amusing injury" category, but a ruptured spleen and slippery snow/ice are nothing to mess with. (He says to appease the ice-slipping gods.)

According to the WebMD search I just conducted, a ruptured spleen occurs when the abdomen suffers a severe direct blow or blunt trauma. Car accidents, hits in contact sports, violence and falling into your bicycle's handlebars are all possible causes, though only one those is hilarious.

Pavano is expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks.

Is there anything that was more fun as a little kid and less fun as an adult than snow? When you're young, snow meant no school and playing outside in snow pants. As an adult it means shoveling, using an ice scraper and having to avoid morons in SUVs who think that having four-wheel drive means they can go 65 mph on icy, windy roads.